The
Community Policing Unit enlists the services of
Field Operations Officers to
work directly with the Unit and the citizens by offering the bicycle
patrol. The bicycle patrol enables the officer to have closer contact
and interaction with the citizens. Traditionally patrol officers
have seemed too impersonal and the patrol car created a physical as well
as mental barrier between the officer and the citizen. Though the
use of patrol cars is a necessary tool and is unlikely to be eliminated,
the bicycle patrol allows the people of the community to be in more of
a position to converse and establish more of a kindred spirit with one
another. On occasion the bicycle officers provide coloring books,
junior police badges, and crime prevention tips to the children.